Editor’s Note: Guest post by Hayden King
Week 9 Recap
Week 9 was my worst betting week yet, going barely above .500 with a 9-8 record on 17 picks. There were some bad beats, as well as games that could’ve gone either way.
Regardless, we’re gearing up for the home stretch as I seek that perfect week. Record on the season is now 115-57 (about 67%).
Wins for the week included: Virginia, Maryland, High Point, Syracuse, Yale, Lehigh, Utah, Army, and Penn State. One note I’d include from those wins: Utah has been on an absolute tear the last few weeks.
They’re playing Mercer this week and I’m expecting a blowout.
I’ll talk about my Air Force, Cornell, and Michigan losses in my Games of the Week Recap. With that, I had 5 losses outside of the Games of the Week. For games that could’ve gone either way, I lost UMass beating Richmond, Villanova beating Denver, and Penn beating Brown. Richmond, Denver, and Brown all pulled out nice wins on the weekend.
One game I want to dive into is Navy losing to Loyola. I had picked Loyola in this game, and I honestly think they may be the most confusing team I’ve seen in years. They had two top 10 wins over Maryland and Johns Hopkins early in the season, but have been struggling the last few weeks.
Navy shouldn’t be slept on though. They have some very capable weapons, but struggle at the X. Huge win for the Midshipmen, while the Greyhounds continue to slide.
Week 9 Games of the Week
I got absolutely obliterated in Games of the Week last week, going 0-3. Besides Cornell losing to Harvard, the other two were close games that didn’t turn out to be bad picks.
Let’s start with talking about the Big Red. They beat Dartmouth by 10+ last week, and Dartmouth beat Harvard a few weeks ago. I thought taking Cornell’s spread of +4.5 goals would be the easiest pick of the week. Well, betting against Gerry Byrne is a losing game.
Gerry Byrne is a huge reason why Notre Dame consistently had one of the best defensive units in college lacrosse. When he got hired by Harvard, that was something I was looking for as being the big difference in their team going forward. His defensive philosophy is showing through, as Harvard dominated Cornell defensively.
I won’t be betting against Harvard again any time soon, as I think they’re hitting their stride at the right time as the season starts to come to a close. Speaking of hitting their stride, Rutgers also showed me they may have a little left in the tank.
I took Michigan ML over Rutgers, using both teams’ games against Hopkins as the goal post for who would win. Both teams lost to Hopkins by 4, and last week I mentioned this would be a close game. It was a great game, but Rutgers pulled out the OT win and regained a hold in the Top 10.
Finally, this is a season of history being a little deceptive in Colorado Springs. Air Force beat Denver this year for the first time since 2012. As I mentioned last week, they hadn’t lost to Bellarmine since 2013.
History doesn’t repeat itself this year, as Bellarmine pulled out the one goal win. I thought Air Force would be a contender to win the ASUN this year, but with how Utah has been playing lately and Air Force’s recent losses, I don’t like their chances at a playoff berth.
Week 10 Games of the Week
Sticking with the parlay model, I have 3 picks coming your way that I think create a nice little parlay. First up, I’m taking Brown ML over Yale at +135.
Here’s why I think Brown can beat Yale: the return of their seniors. Brown’s been playing good lacrosse since their suspended seniors came back, and although they lost to Princeton, they have 2 Top 20 wins since that return.
I don’t think Yale’s offense is even in the same stratosphere as Princeton’s, which should bode well for the Brown Bears. Brown’s coming off a win over Penn last week, and I think they’re going to go into New Haven on Saturday and pull out the win.
Next up, I like Syracuse over UNC ML at -125. I’m not able to watch a ton of ACC lacrosse because I don’t have ACCNetwork, but I finally caught Cuse playing last week and really liked what I saw. Spallina has come into his own and is a stellar captain of this offense.
Keep in mind, UNC has already beat Cuse once this year 19-13. Why bet against that? I think the Cuse team is extremely young, and early in the season didn’t have their ‘stuff’ yet. We’ll have to see what happens, but I like Cuse for this matchup.
Finally, I’m taking Penn @ Harvard Under at 24.5 goals for -105. I already mentioned it, but Gerry Byrne and Harvard have a fantastic defense. Penn struggles to score when they rely heavily on Handley, and I think Byrne will have that in mind.
Overall, odds for this parlay should be +725. Good luck everyone!
Week 10 Picks
- Army vs. Cornell (Saturday)-Cornell
- Lehigh vs. Colgate (Saturday)-Lehigh
- Boston vs. Loyola (Saturday)-Loyola
- Dartmouth vs. Princeton (Saturday)-Princeton
- Duke vs. Virginia (Saturday)-Duke
- Harvard vs. Penn (Saturday)-Harvard
- Saint Joseph’s vs. Hobart (Saturday)-St. Josephs
- Yale vs. Brown (Saturday)-Brown
- Johns Hopkins vs. Ohio State (Saturday)-Hopkins
- Stony Brook vs. Delaware (Saturday)-Delaware
- Marquette vs. Georgetown (Saturday)-GTown
- Navy vs. Lafayette (Saturday)-Navy
- Syracuse vs. North Carolina (Saturday)-Cuse
- Richmond vs. High Point (Saturday)-Richmond
- Michigan vs. Penn State (Sunday)-Penn State
- Rutgers vs. Maryland (Sunday)-Maryland
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